WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish airline LOT will choose long-haul jets from Boeing over rival Airbus at a supervisory board meeting on Wednesday, a board source told Reuters.
Industry sources have estimated the value of the tender to lease around six long-haul jets at $500 million or more. Boeing’s 787 is competing with the Airbus A350 in the tender.
“As far as I understand, and based on what board members have said, there will be a decision tomorrow, and it will be in line with the management’s recommendation — that means Boeing,” the source said on Tuesday. LOT declined to comment.
The long-delayed decision on the planes, which will replace LOT’s current Boeing 767s used mainly on transatlantic routes, has become a political issue with both European leaders and Washington lobbying on behalf of their manufacturers.
Before joining the European Union last year Poland drew accusations of disloyalty and ingratitude from some EU members in choosing American-made F-16 fighters over European rivals. Both LOT and Poland’s government have said the decision will be made purely on commercial grounds.
In an earlier interview, Airbus Senior Vice President Christopher Buckley argued that taking a decision on Wednesday would not allow enough time to complete an audit of the tender, which has been ordered to ensure transparency.
“I can’t believe in a million years that the auditor is going to be ready by tomorrow with their comments and their own judgments. I would be astonished,” Buckley told Reuters.
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September 7, 2005 at 3:14 pm